Ballarat CBD new parking plan 2019: cost, changes, map

While Ballarat city workers can expect to walk further or pay the price, a new parking plan might entice better turnover for CBD businesses.

City of Ballarat released a revised parking strategy on Monday, to combat the issue of worker’s cars creeping more into residential areas, but quell the vocal outcry of concerned workers.

Councillors will consider the parking plan at a public meeting on February 20. The plan will cost $1.6 million to implement, including additional signage and technology.

Parking in the CBD will have staggered pricing. The first 30 minutes in any park is free, then;

$2 for the first two paid hours.

Hours three to six will cost you $8 per hour.

Then $12 per hour for those staying longer than six hours.

SEE THE WHOLE PARKING PLAN HERE. Pink is paid parking, blue is free timed parking, yellow is boundaries of the original paid parking plan, released May last year.

There will be 14 per cent more paid parking in Ballarat’s CBD, or an increase of around 405 car parks.

This is in stark comparison to the original parking plan proposed in May last year, which would have created 4,300 additional paid spaces.

City of Ballarat’s director of environment and infrastructure Terry Demeo said while the first plan last year was “aspirational” and bold, there was clearly “limited appetite” for significant change across the inner city.

“It’s intensifying across the CBD and the big employers like the hospitals are growing, and that’s putting pressure on parking,” he said.

But the big question of where Labor’s election promise of $14 million for 1000 more free car parks in the CBD is still unanswered. Ballarat MP Jaala Pulford told The Courier a decision would be made by the end of the year on where the multi-storey car parks will go.

Mr Demeo said while consultation continues around those future. car park, he hoped they would be “adjacent to activity centres”. He did not rule out that changes may need to be made to the plan in the future as a result of the placement of multi-storey car parks.

For residents, the first permit will be free, the second permit free but dependent on your off-street parking, and the third permit will be $200 and provided under ‘exceptional’ circumstances.

Mr Demeo admitted there would be “some shift” of the parking burden to residential streets further away from the core of the CBD.

Council could not confirm whether timed parking outside the CBD’s paid parking area would be monitored in a way that means drivers can’t move their vehicle during the day to another spot to avoid detection.

‘Best case scenario’, according to the City, is the whole plan is implemented over 12 months.

City of Ballarat stated 1500 people made submissions to the plan online, with 552 people attending the pop-up shop in Sturt Street. There were also 350 different instances of contact with businesses in Ballarat.